Battle against Fall Army Worm begins

Researchers of the
National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) have advised farmers to avoid
using chemicals on their crops for now as war against aggressive Fall Army
begins in earnest.They say that this
strategy can help the country to win its fight against Fall Army Worm (FAW)
that was discovered in the country last year.

Researchers say avoiding the use of chemicals
on some crops may not be a good idea but it can help in the fight against the
alien pest classified to be destructive to maize but can also feed on other
crops.

During a recent national sensitisation
campaign on the Fall Army worm, Dr. Faye Manneh, NARI’s principal research
officer said there are other various measures to use to control the pest such
as crop rotation, early planting, constant monitoring of farms and mix farming
of cassava and maize.

The national sensitisation campaign was
organised by the Department of Agriculture, NARI, plant protection service and
funded by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

FAW (Spodoptera frugiperda) specie of
caterpillars native to Americas is an alien pest that was observed in more than
20 African countries where it caused rancid destruction to food crops. It is
classified to be destructive to maize but can also feed on other crops.

According to Dr. Manneh, the pest was
discovered in The Gambia in March, last year following its discovery in other
parts of Africa such as Nigeria, Ghana and Guinea. “As a result of that, the
Plant Protection Services, NARI and other relevant stakeholders organised a
meeting to set up a plan of action which monitoring was one of the top agenda,”
he said.

He said during that meeting control measures
emerged in case of the pest’s invasion of the country. “It was discovered at
Kembujeh Women’s Garden, Radville Farm and Bakau Women’s Garden.”

He said NARI currently identifying botanical
deficiencies to control the pest and also to access its level of impact on
maize. “We also want to conduct surveillance to know the types of crops that
can be invaded by the pest.”

Dr. Mustapha Ceesay, an agronomist working
with FAO The Gambia said the purpose of the tour was to enable farmers to be
aware of the damages the pest can cause to their crops especially maize.

“We
want them to be prepared for the next cropping seasons and to be able to
identify the pest and to utilise the recommended integrated pest management
approaches,” he said.